October 2nd, 2015
Wadi Dalia, Israel
Hi,
I decided to spend some of my time alone in hiking.
One of the locations was Wadi Dalia, home to many caves but also to Bedouins what might be a little dangerous to walk up there.
What more dangerous, is that I promised Atzva that I will not hike there alone, and if she knew about (and I will tell here) she will kill me
I had luck and on this time there was a tour to the cave by the MALHAM (The center to cave research), like the one we been to In Modi’in Ilit
Yes I had to pay for the tour (but I didn’t have to go alone or to lie to Atzva about it), and I came with our car (because the company car with free gas had to go to an “emergency” check) but that was worth it =)
Take Care
Gad
The entrance to Netiv Ha-Gdud, were we parked our cars and start climbing.
Samaria mountains, where Wadi Dalia flow.
Abandoned post on the slops of Samria mountains
Looking down from the abandoned post: The Arabah were we climbed from. The green areas are the fields – on the left the fields of Gilgal and on the right the fields of Nativ Ha-gdod.
The creek North to Wadi Dalia.
part of the way we walked on the road and along the power lines and thought to ourselves – where are they going to?
Well, we found out: to the drilling point
Cisterns on the slopes of the hills.
Used by the Bedouins to drink their sheep and goats.
Enough of climbing – the plateau that drains to Wadi Dalia
A Bedouin tent and their herd on the entrance to the creek
Going down Wadi Dalia (Dalia creek)
The entrance to Arak A-Nasane cave – 1150 meter long (!) it is the second longest in Israel.
We didn’t get in there for the fear it is infected with Ticks that cause to Cave fever
Going down into the Waterfall cave
Going down from the waterfall cave
The waterfall from the distance.
Most of the caves in the creek are at the same area as the waterfall, this is no coincidence:This is the line between the harder rock and the softer one.
On the right side you can see the entrance to Abu Kati cave – to which we didn’t enter
Other caves below the waterfall
The entrance to Yogev (=”field worker”) Cave – another cave below the waterfall and the only one we got into in this hike.
The small hole and the narrow entrance to the camp. The entrance was blocked with rock, probably the work of the shepherd that is using the space (you can see the mat on the left side).
Inside Yogev cave. No matter how big is the cave, you can’t really show it in pictures
Some of the shapes inside the cave
Crawling outside through the narrow entrance
Going down Wadi Dalia dry waterfall and “Gev”s (those are small pools in creek that fill in with water during the winter).
The end of Wadi Dalia with the hills around covered with goat trails.